Collapsible supporting chair



1956 F. c. M ERRIMAN ETAL 2,760,557

COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING CHAIR Filed March 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS FREDERICK CHARLES MERRIMAN JACK RATKOWSKI ATTORNEYS 1956 F. c.MERRIMAN ETAL 2,760,557

COLLAPSIBLE SUPPORTING CHAIR Filed March 28, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS FREDERICK CHARLES MERRIMAN JggK RATKOWSKI ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent coLLArsmLn surronrmo CHAIR Frederick Charles Merriman andJack Ratltowski, Nelson, British Columbia, Canada Application March 28,1955, Serial No. 497,278

8 Claims. (Cl. 155- 154) This invention relates to a collapsiblesupporting chair which may be used on bleachers, benches and the ground.

There are many spectator sports during which people have to sit onbenches or bleachers without any back rest. This collapsible chair isadapted to be placed on a bench or bleacher, and it provides a back restthat has a limited amount of adjustment. In addition to this, the chairmay be placed on the ground so that a person in a park or on the beachcan sit down on a clean surface and have a back rest. This back rest maybe adjusted from substantially a vertical position to almost ahorizontal position.

This supporting chair is designed so that it may be quickly and easilyfolded into a very compact bundle. The chair has a seat with a backhingedly connected thereto, and these may be folded to enclose all themechanism that holds them in their normal operative positions.

A supporting chair according to the present invention comprises a seathaving a back hingedly connected to the rear edge thereof, said backbeing movable to a position flat against the seat when the chair is notrequired and to a position substantially at right angles to said seatfor use, bar means slidably mounted along the bottom of the seat andprojecting beyond the rear edge thereof, and a support connected at itsopposite ends to the adjacent end of the bar means and to the back nearthe top thereof. The bar means is movable relative to the seat to adjustthe angle of the back to the latter. The seat is intended to be restedon a flat surface, such as a bench, bleacher or the ground, and in thepreferred form of the invention the seat is provided with spacing meanson its lower surface so that said seat is spaced a little above thesurface upon which it rests. This provides space for the bar means andpermits the latter to be moved relative to the seat. In addition tothis, the hinges of the back are offset so that the back may be foldedagainst the spacing means on the lower surface of the seat. Thus, thespacing means provides a space between the seat and back in which thebar means and the support are positioned when the chair is collapsed. Itis preferable to provide suitable means for holding the seat and back inthis collapsed position to maintain the chair in a neat bundle which maybe con eniently carried or stored.

An example of this invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Figure l is a front elevation of the collapsible supporting chair, readyfor use,

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof,

Figure 3 is a back view of a portion of the chair,

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 4-4 ofFigure 1, showing the chair mounted on a bench or bleacher,

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken on the line 5-5 ofFigure 1,

Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4,

Figure 7 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the chair, and

Figure 8-is a section similar to Figure 4 only with the back folded intothe collapsed position.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a seat, and 11. is a back therefor. Theback is connected at its lower edge 12 to the rear edge 13 of the seatby one or more hinges 14, there being tWo of these hinges shown in theillustrated example. Each hinge 14 is offset, that is, the hinge pin 15thereof is offset or, spaced downwardly, seeFigureS, from the portion1.6 thereof which is connected to the seat. When the supporting chair isin use, back 11. is maintained in a position substantially at rightangles to seat 10, and the offset hinges permit said back to be swungaround into a position against or parallel with the lower surface of theseat when the chair is not required. Back 11 may be provided with a handhole 19 near the upper or outer edge thereof, see Figure l, and it alsohas a comparatively large recess 20 in its lower or inner edgesubstantially midway between its side edges.

Suitable means is provided for adjustably securing the back 11 in itsnormal position substantially at right angles to the seat. For thispurpose, bar means is slidably mounted along the bottom of the seat. Inthis example, a bar 24 is slidably mounted on the lower or inner surfaceof the seat by means of loops 25 mounted on the latter. A finger grip 27is formed on one end of the bar and projects downwardly therefrom, thisgrip being provided with a lug 28 which is spaced from and extendssubstantially parallel to the bar, see Figures 4 and 8. The opposite endof bar 24 is provided with an open loop 30 on the upper surface thereof,and a stop 31 pivotally mounted at 32 on the bar may be moved topositions closing or opening the loops when desired.

Spacing means may be provided on the lower surface of seat 10 in orderto space the said seat above the surface upon which the chair rests. Inthis example, blocks 34 and 35 are secured to the lower surface of theseat at opposite side edges thereof and extend substantially between thefront and rear edges. When the spacing blocks are used, they rest on thesurface upon which the chair is positioned, such as a bleacher or bench37, as illustrated in Figure 4. The blocks thus form a space or chamber38 in which bar 24 operates.

A support is provided for maintaining back 11 at substantially rightangles to the seat 10 when the chair is to be used. This support may bein the form of a U-shaped rod 40 with its free ends 41 bent outwardly tofit into lugs 42 of a bracket 43 secured to the back near the topthereof. see Figures 3 and 4. The bottom 45 of the U of the supportremovably fits in loop 30 of bar 24. Stop 31 may be moved to theposition shown in Figure 4 to retain the bottom of the support in theloop, or it may be swung away from this position to allow said bottom tobe removed from the loop.

This supporting chair is operated in a very simple manner. When it is inits erected position, that is, when back 11 extends substantially atright angles to seat 10, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the bottom 45of support 40 is positioned in loop 30 to maintain the back in thisposition. The bar 24 may be shifted back to the seat to a limiteddegree. When the seat is placed on the bench or bleacher 37, lug 28 offinger grip 27 engages the front edge of the bench or bleacher toprevent the chair from moving rearwardly thereof. A person sitting onseat 10 may lean back against back 11 for resting purposes. The rodsupport 40 having a certain amount of resiliency acts more or less ascushioning means for holding the back in position. As the supportextends upwardly almost in the same direction as the back, it has atendency to bend slightly when the person leans against the back. Asstated above, bar 24 may be shifted longitudinally of the seat in orderto adjust the back relative thereto to a limited extent.

If the chair is placed on the ground or some other relatively largesurface, the back 11 may be adjusted towards the horizontal position byturning stop 31 and removing the bottom 45 of support 40 from loop 36.The back may then be swung rearwardly with the support resting on theground at any desired point, as shown in broken lines in Figure 4. Thebottom of the support has atendency to dig into the ground in order tosupport the back in the adjusted position. Furthermore, the end of thesupport may be placed against some object, such as a tree, in order tokeep it at a desired setting.

When it is desired to collapse or fold the chair. the bottom of thesupport is disengaged from loop 30, and back 11 is swung downwardlyaround its hinges 14 into a position flat against the bottom of seat or,when blocks 34 and 35 are used, against said blocks. These blocksactually form part of the seat structure. Figure 8 shows the back inbroken lines being swung towards the seat, and in full lines it is shownin its final position against the seat. At this time, support 40 and bar24 are within the chamber 38 formed between the seat and back. Thefinger grip 27 of the bar extends through the hand hole 19 of the back,and lug 28 overlaps the outer surface of the back to hold it inposition. The chair is now in a small compact and flat bundle which maybe easily stored or carried around. If desired, the bundle may becarried in somewhat the same manner as a suitcase by inserting thefingers in the hole 19, in which case the portion 48 of the back betweensaid hole and the outer or upper edge of the able relative to the backconstitutes a handle. The recess at the inner edge I of the back permitsthe latter to swing around the end of bar 24 having the loop 30 thereon.

In order to open up the chair, it is only necessary to move bar 24 torelease lug 28 from the chair back. After this is done, the back isswung around into a substantially vertical position, the bottom 45 ofsupport 40 is placed in loop 30, and the stop 31 is turned to retainsaid bottom in the loop. The chair is now ready for use.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A collapsible supporting chair to be placed on the ground, bleacheror the like, comprising a seat, a back hingedly connected to the rearedge of the seat, said back being movable to a position flat against theseat when the chair is not required and to a position substantially atright angles to said seat for use, bar means slidably mounted along thebottom of the seat and projecting beyond the rear edge thereof, and asupport connected at its opposite ends to the adjacent end of the barmeans and to the back near the top thereof, said bar means being movseatto adjust the angle of the back to the latter.'

2. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 1 in which thesupport is hingedly connected to both the supporting means and the back.

3. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 1 in which one endof the support is removably connected to the bar means, whereby thesupport may be disconnected from the bar-means and swung away from theseat to support the back at a greater angle to said seat than normal.

4. A collapsible supporting chair to be placed on the ground, bleacheror the like, comprising a seat, a back extending substantially at rightangles to the seat when the chair is in operation, ofiset hinge meansconnecting the rear edge of the seat to the lower edge of the back, saidhinge means permitting the back to be folded against the seat, a barslidably mounted along the bottom of the seat and projecting beyond therear edge thereof, and a support hingedly connected at its opposite endsto the adjacent end of the bar and to the back near the top thereof,said bar being movable relative to the seat to adjust the angle of theback to the latter.

5. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 4 includingspacing means on the bottom of the seat forming a chamber between theseat and back when the latter is folded against the former, said supportlying in the chamber at this time.

6. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 4 in which the baris provided with gripping means at its forward end for engaging the backwhen said back is folded against the seat to hold them together.

7. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 4 in which thesupport is in the form of a U-shaped rod with the free ends thereofconnected to the back and the bottom of the U connected to the bar.

8. A collapsible supporting chair as claimed in claim 7 in which the barhas an open loop at its rear end into which the bottom of the U fits,and including means on the bar for removably locking the U bottom in theloop. References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS126,599 Waterhouse May 7, 1872 614,766 Safiord Nov. 22, 1898 648,715Walton May 1, 1900 1,852,012 Hose Apr. 5, 1932 2,108,531 Flanders Feb.15, 1938

